The Software Engineer role at UC Davis is pivotal in enhancing the university's technological infrastructure and supporting its mission to advance education and research. As a Software Engineer, you will design, develop, and maintain software applications that are essential for various academic and administrative functions. This role not only contributes to the operational efficiency of the university but also directly impacts the student and faculty experience by providing reliable and innovative technological solutions. Software Engineers at UC Davis work on a broad range of projects, from developing cutting-edge educational tools to enhancing data management systems that serve thousands of users. Your contributions will play a critical role in shaping the future of technology within the academic landscape, making this position both challenging and rewarding. You can expect to collaborate with a diverse team of professionals who are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and innovative environment.
Phone Screening
reportedInitial phone screening to assess candidate's fit for the Software Engineer position.
What to demonstrate
- Initial phone screening to assess candidate's fit for the Software Engineer position
- Depth in Java
How to prepare
- Be able to walk your CV end to end in two minutes, and say why this company specifically.
- Have your salary expectations, notice period and location constraints ready, and ask for the rest of the loop in writing.
In-Person Interviews
reportedOne or more in-person interviews that may include technical assessments and behavioral questions.
What to demonstrate
- One or more in-person interviews that may include technical assessments and behavioral questions
- Depth in Java
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: Describe the differences between RESTful and SOAP APIs.
- Answer aloud and timed: How do you manage memory in Java?
Collaborative Atmosphere
reportedEngagement with multiple interviewers, including team members and department heads, for a comprehensive evaluation.
What to demonstrate
- Engagement with multiple interviewers
- Including team members and department heads, for a comprehensive evaluation
How to prepare
- Answer aloud and timed: What is dependency injection and how is it used in Spring?
- Answer aloud and timed: Describe a challenging project you worked on. What was your role, and what did you learn?
PracHub editorial advice for the preparation topics above.
Showcase Your Passion
Demonstrate a genuine interest in technology and how it can improve education and research.
Prepare for Behavioral Questions
Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to structure your responses.
Align with University Values
Understand UC Davis' mission, and be prepared to discuss how your work aligns with their goals.
Practice Coding
Use platforms like LeetCode to refine your coding skills and prepare for algorithm questions.
Choose a category, try a prompt, then open its approach, worked solution or follow-up when you need it.
How do you manage memory in Java?
How do you manage memory in Java?
Approach
- Say what the runtime actually does before reasoning about the code.
- Name what is shared across threads and what owns each piece of state.
- Identify the window where an invariant is briefly untrue.
- Distinguish a value from a reference to it, and say which one you handed out.
Follow-up
- What happens if two callers reach this at the same time?
- Where could this allocate more than you expect?
Write a function to reverse a linked list.
Write a function to reverse a linked list.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Explain the time complexity of your solution.
Explain the time complexity of your solution.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Solve a problem using dynamic programming.
Solve a problem using dynamic programming.
Approach
- Restate the input: its shape, its size, and what is guaranteed about it.
- Name the brute-force solution and its complexity before improving on it.
- Choose the data structure from the access pattern, not from familiarity.
- State the target complexity and say which constraint rules the naive version out.
Follow-up
- How does this change if the input no longer fits in memory?
- What is the worst case, and how likely is it on real data?
Write the update path that detects a concurrent edit
resource carries version INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 1. resource_revision holds revision_id, resource_id, version, actor_user_id, change_kind, patch JSONB, request_id, created_at with UNIQUE (resource_id, version). outbox_event holds aggregate_type, aggregate_id, aggregate_version, event_type, payload, status. A PUT carries the version the client read. Write the exact statements for the single transaction that applies the edit, records the revision and enqueues 'resource.updated', and give the handler's branch on zero affected rows. Then say what PostgreSQL 16 does under READ COMMITTED when two of these updates hit one row at once.
Approach
- One transaction, three writes, no network call inside it: UPDATE resource SET title = $3, version = version + 1, updated_at = now() WHERE resource_id = $1 AND tenant_id = $4 AND version = $2; then INSERT the resource_revision row at version $2 + 1; then INSERT the outbox_event row at the same aggregate_version. The event goes to a table rather than a broker because no transaction spans both.
- Branch on the affected-row count before doing anything else. Zero has three causes — stale version, wrong tenant, row gone — so re-read once and map to 409 carrying the current version, or 404 for an id outside the caller's tenant, which also stops the endpoint confirming that another tenant's id exists.
- State the engine behaviour instead of assuming it. Under READ COMMITTED the second UPDATE blocks on the row lock, and when the first commits PostgreSQL re-evaluates the WHERE clause against the newly committed row, so the version predicate now fails and the statement reports zero rows. Under REPEATABLE READ the identical collision raises SQLSTATE 40001 instead, so the handler must fold both shapes into one conflict response.
- Keep UNIQUE (resource_id, version) even though the predicate already serialises writers. It is what makes a lost update unwritable if any other path ever reaches the revision table, and it converts a logic bug into 23505 rather than into a silently missing history row.
Follow-up
- A client sends the version it read ten minutes ago and the resource has moved three versions. What is in your 409 so it can resolve the conflict without a full re-fetch?
- Two editors, two disjoint fields, no overlap. Does your answer still refuse the second write, and should it?
Explain why the owner filter ignores the listing index
The only index on resource is (tenant_id, status, updated_at DESC, resource_id DESC). A new endpoint returns one user's resources across all statuses, newest created first: WHERE tenant_id = $1 AND owner_user_id = $2 ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 20. On a tenant with 2M rows it takes 900 ms and EXPLAIN shows a sort above a large scan. Explain precisely why the existing index cannot serve it, give the index that can, and state which of these the new index still will not help: owner_user_id alone across tenants; the same query ordered by updated_at. PostgreSQL 16.
Approach
- Separate the two jobs an index does. For filtering, a composite btree is seekable only on a left prefix, so with no predicate on status the scan can at best range over tenant_id and test owner_user_id per row; PostgreSQL 16 has no btree skip scan to jump the unconstrained column.
- For ordering, the index is sorted by (status, updated_at) within a tenant and not by created_at, so the LIMIT cannot stop early: every matching row is read and then sorted. That is the 'Sort Method: top-N heapsort' line, and it is why the plan reads 2M rows to answer with 20.
- Derive the replacement from the access path — equality, equality, then the ordering column: CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY ON resource (tenant_id, owner_user_id, created_at DESC). The scan seeks to the (tenant, owner) range and walks 20 entries in order, so the Sort node disappears along with the row-read.
- Treat INCLUDE (title, status) as conditional, not free. An index-only scan still visits the heap for any row whose page is not marked all-visible, so on a table taking 1.2k writes/second the win depends on autovacuum keeping the visibility map current, and the wider index costs more on every insert.
Follow-up
- 90% of rows are status='active'. Would a partial index WHERE status = 'active' change your answer, and for which of the three queries?
- A dashboard runs this for 40 owners in one page load. What changes about the design?
What are the core principles of Object-Oriented Programming?
What are the core principles of Object-Oriented Programming?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
Can you explain the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture?
Can you explain the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture?
Approach
- Fix the scope first: who calls this, how often, and what they do when it fails.
- Name the read and write paths separately; they rarely have the same bottleneck.
- Choose a partition key and say what query it makes expensive.
- State the consistency you need, and where you are willing to be stale.
Follow-up
- What breaks first when traffic grows ten times?
- How does this behave when that dependency is down for an hour?
Describe the differences between RESTful and SOAP APIs.
Describe the differences between RESTful and SOAP APIs.
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
What is dependency injection and how is it used in Spring?
What is dependency injection and how is it used in Spring?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
If given a new technology stack, how would you familiarize yourself with it?
If given a new technology stack, how would you familiarize yourself with it?
Approach
- Clarify what is being asked and what a complete answer contains.
- State your assumptions explicitly before working the problem.
- Say what you would check first and why it is the highest-information step.
- Work from the requirement backwards to the design.
Follow-up
- What assumption would you test first?
- How would you know your answer was wrong?
How would you approach debugging a malfunctioning application?
How would you approach debugging a malfunctioning application?
Approach
- Establish what changed and when, before forming any theory.
- Pick a bisection that eliminates candidates whichever way it turns out.
- Check the instrumentation before believing the symptom.
- Separate the trigger from the cause; the deploy is rarely the bug.
Follow-up
- What would you look at first, and what would it rule out?
- How would you tell a cause from a coincidence here?
Built from the rounds and topics UC Davis candidates report.
Prepare, practise & reflect
One practical outcome each day. Spend longer where you need it.
0 / 7 done01Map the UC Davis loop
- Write out the reported sequence: Phone Screening, In-Person Interviews, Collaborative Atmosphere.
- For each round, write one sentence on what it is judging, from the description above, and mark the one you are least ready for.
Deliverable: A one-page map of the 3 reported rounds, with the weakest marked.
02Work Java
- Spend the session on Java, which UC Davis candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Java and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Java.
03Work Spring MVC
- Spend the session on Spring MVC, which UC Davis candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Spring MVC and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Spring MVC.
04Work Spring Boot
- Spend the session on Spring Boot, which UC Davis candidates report being tested on.
- Write one worked example in Spring Boot and time yourself on it.
Deliverable: One timed worked example in Spring Boot.
05Answer out loud: Technical / Domain Questions
- Answer aloud, timed: What are the core principles of Object-Oriented Programming?
- Answer aloud, timed: Can you explain the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture?
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Technical / Domain Questions question(s), under time.
06Answer out loud: Behavioral / Leadership Questions
- Answer aloud, timed: Describe a challenging project you worked on. What was your role, and what did you learn?
- Answer aloud, timed: How do you prioritize your tasks when faced with tight deadlines?
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Behavioral / Leadership Questions question(s), under time.
07Answer out loud: Problem-Solving / Case Studies
- Answer aloud, timed: How would you approach debugging a malfunctioning application?
- Answer aloud, timed: If given a new technology stack, how would you familiarize yourself with it?
Deliverable: Spoken answers to 2 reported Problem-Solving / Case Studies question(s), under time.
Expand any day for tasks and deliverables. Your progress is saved on this device.
Behavioural rounds judge the decision you made and what it cost.
Describe a challenging project you worked on. What was your role, and what did you learn?
Describe a challenging project you worked on. What was your role, and what did you learn?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
How do you prioritize your tasks when faced with tight deadlines?
How do you prioritize your tasks when faced with tight deadlines?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Give an example of a time when you had to work with a difficult team member. How did you handle it?
Give an example of a time when you had to work with a difficult team member. How did you handle it?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
What motivates you to succeed in your work?
What motivates you to succeed in your work?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
Describe a time when you had to learn a new programming language quickly. What was your strategy?
Describe a time when you had to learn a new programming language quickly. What was your strategy?
Approach
- Pick a story where you made the decision, not one where you watched it.
- State the situation in two sentences and spend the rest on the reasoning.
- Give the blast radius: what could have broken, and what you measured.
- Name the disagreement and how you resolved it with evidence.
Follow-up
- What would you do differently if you ran that again?
- How did you know your change caused the improvement?
- 01
Describe a challenging project you worked on. What was your role, and what did you learn?
- 02
How do you prioritize your tasks when faced with tight deadlines?
- 03
Give an example of a time when you had to work with a difficult team member. How did you handle it?
- 04
What motivates you to succeed in your work?
How difficult are the interviews for Software Engineer positions at UC Davis?
The interviews are generally considered to be of average difficulty, focusing on both technical knowledge and cultural fit. Candidates should prepare thoroughly to showcase their skills and experiences.
UC Davis Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What differentiates successful candidates during the interview process?
Successful candidates typically demonstrate a strong technical foundation, effective communication skills, and a clear alignment with the university's values of collaboration and innovation.
UC Davis Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What is the typical timeline from initial screening to offer?
The timeline can vary, but candidates often report a process that spans 2–4 weeks, including multiple interview rounds and potential technical assessments.
UC Davis Software Engineer candidate reports ↗How does remote work factor into the role?
While many positions may allow for remote work options, candidates should be prepared to discuss their flexibility and willingness to collaborate in-person when necessary.
UC Davis Software Engineer candidate reports ↗What topics does UC Davis test in interviews?
UC Davis interviews most often cover Stakeholder Communication, Communication Skills, Analytical Problem Solving, Java, and UX/UI Design. The exact emphasis depends on the specific role you apply for.
UC Davis Software Engineer candidate reports ↗Sources & methodology 3 sources ↗
No official company page is cited. Rounds and questions come from candidate reports and PracHub editorial material; each source shows the date it was read.
- 01UC Davis Software Engineer candidate reports ↗
Company-reported rounds, questions and FAQ.
Candidate reports · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 02PracHub Software Engineer practice ↗
PracHub practice material, not company-reported.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22 - 03PracHub preparation framework ↗
PracHub preparation guidance.
PracHub page · Accessed 2026-09-22
Explore related engineering environments and compare the preparation focus.
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